Soaring the Skies Once Again: Scarlet Macaws in Mexico

© Angie Toh

© Crónica Veracruz

“When you came to Catemaco the jungle was exuberant, and the most notorious animals were monkeys and macaws that crossed everywhere”, remarked Mr. William Schaldach Jr., a Catemaco resident naturalist who, over 50 years, had documented the birds of Los Tuxtlas, with a list of 565 species among residents, wintering, migratory and accidentals.

Soaring the Skies Once Again Encouraging results in the reintroduction of Scarlet Macaws to Los Tuxtlas Reserve, Mexico Article by: Patricia Escalante, Areli Arias, Diana Cortés and Esteban Cortéz Instituto de Biología, Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México

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“The last record of the Scarlet Macaw (Ara macao cyanoptera) in Los Tuxtlas Reserve was in 1975, when I watched a small group heading into the sunset from the Jicacal beach to the rainforest of the UNAM Biology Station,” recounts Félix Aguilar-Ortiz, biologist and ecotourism guide in Dos Amates, a small village 13km north of Catemaco.

Trapping for the pet market and habitat destruction caused the loss of the original population of these colourful and intelligent birds. From 1975 to 2014 they were not seen again, until the reintroduction project made its return thanks to the initiative of UNAM (Universidad Nacional Autonóma de México) and Xcaret Eco-Archeological Park, whose successful breeding program has produced hundreds of macaws.

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As with any project it is the individual stories that highlight the amazing lives of the participants. Here are a couple of our favourites.

Flying Ray

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Ray belongs to the 6th group of Scarlet Macaws that arrived in Los Tuxtlas. A few months ago, it was the day of her release, the time to get to know the forest and the joy of freedom. However, Ray had one problem: she was hesitant, even afraid, to fly.

Within it there are privately protected sites, such as the Nanciyaga Ecological Reserve on the shores of Lake Catemaco.

This 10-hectare rainforest, in addition to a neighbor’s land, forms a 45-hectare continuous patch of forest that is supported by ecotourism and where the reintroduction project is based.

Areli Arias, DVM and Esteban Cortez, our local technician, awaken each day to a jungle chorus: chachalacas (a type of bird), howler monkeys, jays, and, of course, macaws. Then the morning chores begin: washing the aviary feeders and the external feeding stations that both the newly liberated and previously released macaws still use, and the food preparation and feeding. Only after these duties are completed can the team have their own breakfast.

In 2014 we began transfers of captive-bred Scarlet Macaws from Xcaret. We now have three sites where we conduct soft releases: La Otra Opción, Reserva Ejidal Benito Juárez, and Nanciyaga.

The first time she walked the rod and arrived at the tip, turned her head several times as if examining

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They’ve also produced eggs, but we do not yet know if they are incubating them, or if they have had success in raising chicks. We will continue to place nest boxes to support them in their activities.

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The next day she walked across the bamboo rod, came right to the edge and…took her first small (big!) flight. We were delighted!

She perfected her skills day by day until the bamboo rod finally fell.

Then, the next morning something unexpected happened. From the roof of the aviary she opened her wings, determined not to miss any more breakfasts, and bravely flew over to the feeding station! It was a beautiful flight, with only a small mishap in some bushes. She landed on the platform and ate with great joy, her efforts and determination finally paying off.

Now Ray flies from the roof to the station, where she eats everything she wants and then flies back to the aviary roof again. Sometimes she goes back and forth, as if she is training herself to be better, to perfect her flight, and to fly more and more. Ray is enjoying the flight that at some point caused her fear and is feeling the air of freedom touching her wings.

Ray has more challenges ahead.

She’ll need courage to fly away from the aviary, explore the forest, and fly over all the trees along with her companions, who each sunrise open their wings in celebration of the freedom of their new home.

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the situation, flapped her wings like she was preparing for the big flight, and stopped. That day she missed her breakfast.

The bridge that allowed her to overcome some of her fear was no longer there so she became distressed again, searching for a way to the platform through the nearest tree branches.

None seemed to be close enough.

Happily, since the first release breeding behaviours have been observed: the birds went into the nest boxes we provided and were observed copulating.

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The macaws’ behaviours are recorded to keep track of both positive and negative interactions, using beak markings to identify

As of April 2018, 189 macaws have been moved, of which we have released 162. Thirty-one have been lost in four years, meaning a survival rate of 81%.

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Nanciyaga was founded in 1986, and there we built our pre-release aviary and related facilities in 2014.

We have a rustic cabin where we

So, we devised a little test for her to overcome: in a feeding station in a tree near the aviary, we placed a horizontal bamboo rod with which she could reach her daily breakfast.

But it was still one metre away from her prize, and she needed to work that out.

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In total seven groups of between 24 and 29 macaws each have been brought from Xcaret, and six groups have been released.

During the day we observe the interactions between the wild birds and the new ones that are in the aviary, bring them branches for enrichment, and provide wild fruits that they will need to recognize once released, among many other duties.

specific birds. The monitoring has proven vital more than once - one of the macaws became aggressive towards the other birds, injuring a female in the process. We have had to separate the injured bird briefly to allow her to heal before she can be released.

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house volunteers, young people who enthusiastically contribute their time to the project.

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ince 1998, Los Tuxtlas has been an ecological reserve with federal-level protection.

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Most of her companions flew without much difficulty to the outside feeding stations but she could not, and instead called out miserably to her companions. We tried a number of options to get her interested in flying, all to no avail.

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the Owners of the aviary roof Caco is twelve years old and Manuel three. They are two male macaws from the first group released in Nanciyaga in 2015, and both have developed an interesting approach to daily life.

Usually after release the macaws slowly move away from the aviary which was their home. Most of them return to hang out on their roof, make flights to the feeders, and come back to rest, groom and interact with the other macaws.

However, with one group we noticed that many macaws were not returning to the aviary, instead staying in the surrounding trees. We soon discovered the reason: a pair of big, burly male macaws were patrolling the roof, and any macaw that put even a claw on their turf were sent off very quickly!

They guard the edges of the roof along the entire perimeter, and if necessary, take to the air to chase “the intruders.” Any resistance is met with pecking and mobbing. The pair even harass the new arrivals inside the aviary by attacking their

feet when they hang from the wire ceiling. The other macaws prefer not to fight so they leave.

Caco and Manuel celebrate their successes by clicking each other’s beaks and calling back and forth.

The two leave just to eat, at which point we observe some brave macaws returning to claim the roof.

When Caco and Manuel return the others go away again; apparently the roof is the best cared-for place, 24 hours a day, all because of a pair of big, beautiful, determined macaws known as “the owners of the aviary roof.”

welcomed over time. Tourist service providers (hoteliers, restaurants, artisans, guides, fishermen and boatmen) are also encouraged by our progress.

It is our hope that visitors to the area will enjoy seeing the birds and then tell their friends about the experience, which will benefit the service providers, and the regional economy in general.

Most importantly, maybe this will help us protect these wonderful macaws.

Perhaps Don Caco—the person who made Nanciyaga’s dream of preserving the rainforest possible and gave a safe home to many animals—would be proud to know that his namesake is still caring as much as he did.

In additon to the work and the birds’ stories, the involvement and education of local people is vital to our success with the release project.

Our team has made a strong commitment in this area, both in schools at all levels of education and in community meetings, and as a result the project has been

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Special thanks to the organisations that have made our work possible: Tang, US Fish and Wildlife Service, Bosque Antiguo AC, Defenders of Wildlife, Reserva de la Biosfera Los Tuxtlas (CONANP), and the World Parrot Trust.

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